(RightWing.org) – In early 2020, people had to insert phrases such as “social distancing” and “N-95 mask” into their daily conversations. After the terrorist group supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran known as Hamas launched a surprise war on Israel coupled with news coming from the United States border with Mexico, Americans need to familiarize themselves with “special interest aliens (SIAs).”
Potential Threats
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defines an SIA as “a non-U.S. person who… potentially poses a national security risk to the United States or its interest,” where an analysis of their travel patterns indicates they may have originated in areas that support terrorism. While these individuals are not necessarily trying to come to America for nefarious reasons, the sheer number of them being encountered by Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers are, quite frankly, astounding and frightening in equal measures.
Since the beginning of October, CBP agents caught four Iranian SIAs after they illegally crossed over from Mexico, the most recent was apprehended in Eagle Pass, Texas, where two Lebanese designees were also detained. If that location sounds familiar, it is where Texas’s Republican Governor Greg Abbott had a large flotation barricade placed in the Rio Grande River and where alleged federal agents were filmed cutting through razor wire fences and actually helping illegal aliens up onto the bank of the river.
Fox News reporter Bill Melugin posted to his X (formerly Twitter) feed some numbers that he says were “confirmed by CBP sources” that came from the agency’s own data. The figures are from encounters outside of legal ports of entry and cover the last two years of President Joe Biden’s open-the-door-and-let ’em-in (with all due apologies to music legend Paul McCartney) policy, and they include:
- 6,386 from Afghanistan, which Biden handed over to the Taliban in the military pullout debacle
- 3,153 from Egypt
- 30,830 from Turkey, a nominal NATO ally that harbors Harakat Sawa’d Misr (HASM) and the Islamic State-Sinai Province
NEW: Internal CBP data provided & confirmed by CBP sources reveals thousands of “special interest aliens” from mostly Middle Eastern countries have been apprehended by Border Patrol while crossing into U.S. illegally over last 2 years.
Syria: 538
Yemen: 139
Iran: 659
Iraq: 123…— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) October 10, 2023
Senator Hawley Has Concerns
Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) sees a possible threat to the United States from that quarter as well and expressed some of his concerns and frustrations in a letter to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, dated October 18. He expanded his worries beyond those with the SIA designation to those who are actually listed in the Terrorist Screening Database (TSDB), which might be a relatively small number in total but is massive compared to previous years.
According to Hawley, CBP “encountered 154 TSDB aliens” trying to make an illegal entry into America in the fiscal year (FY) 2023, which is “more than the last six years combined.” He believes it is a near statistical certainty that individuals with links to terrorism of some sort “are among the estimated 1.6 million illegal aliens” who made it into the country during the Biden administration.
Not wanting to be blindsided by any terrorist group’s potential sleight-of-hand, Congressman (and former US Navy SEAL) Ryan Zinke (R-MT) and Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA) put forth a resolution advising Mayorkas to maintain a vigilant watch on the northern border with Canada. In a press release, the two representatives say that “to date in FY23, 85% of all suspected terrorists encountered” have been there and not crossing over from Mexico.
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